Why Islam? From a Muslim convert to all seekers of truth, Islamic Ideology, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Ideology

Why Islam? From a Muslim convert to all seekers of truth

By Laurence B. Brown

Now, Muslims would not like to hear me say that Islam is the "ultimate elsewhere." But it is. Despite the fact that Muslims comprise one-fourth to one-fifth of the world's population, non-Muslim media smears Islam with such horrible slanders that few non-Muslims view the religion in a positive light. Hence, it is normally the last religion seekers investigate.

Another problem is that by the time non-Muslims examine Islam, other religions have typically heightened their scepticism: If every "God-given" scripture we have ever seen is corrupt, how can the Islamic scripture be different? If charlatans have manipulated religions to suit their desires, how can we imagine the same not to have happened with Islam?

The answer can be given in a few lines, but takes books to explain. The short answer is this: There is a God. He is fair and just, and He wants us to achieve the reward of paradise. However, God has placed us in this worldly life as a test, to weed out the worthy from the unworthy. And we will be lost if left to our own devices. Why? Because we don't know what He wants from us. We can't navigate the twists and turns of this life without His guidance, and hence, He has given us guidance in the form of revelation.

Sure, previous religions have been corrupted, and that is why we have a chain of revelation. Ask yourself: why would God send another revelation if the preceding scriptures were still pure? Only if preceding scriptures were corrupted would God need to send another revelation, to keep mankind on the straight path of His design.

http://newageislam.com/why-islam?-from-a-muslim-convert-to-all-seekers-of-truth/islamic-ideology/d/1779

What do our inter-religious conflicts teach us?,

Islam and Spiritualism

What do our inter-religious conflicts teach us?

Lessons from inter-religious conflicts

Discovering Patterns of Unity in diversity leads to Intellectual as well as Spiritual growth

SULTAN SHAHIN, Editor, New Age Islam

Another important lesson for us, Muslims in particular, is that later revelations of God do not cancel the previous ones. We cannot be Muslim unless we revere all previous prophets and all previous messages equally. The Holy Quran asks us to "stand fast by the Torah, The Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from Your Lord." (5:68). It is not for nothing that the Holy Quran makes this exhortation again and again in different contexts: And those who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (Mohammed) and that which was revealed before thee, have the assurance of the Hereafter.(2.04) Gabriel hath revealed (this Scripture) to thy (Mohammad's) heart by Allah's leave, confirming that which was (revealed) before it.(2.97) None of Our revelations (even a single verse) do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We bring ( in place) something better or similar: (2.10) Say ye: "We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.(2.13)

http://newageislam.com/what-do-our-inter-religious-conflicts-teach-us?--/islam-and-spiritualism/d/1208

A spiritual note from The Quran: Fasting in Navratri, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism

A spiritual note from The Quran: Fasting in Navratri

The festival of Navratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety. It is a period for self-reflection and getting back to the Source. Likewise, Eid ul-Fitr was celebrated last week by Muslims worldwide after a period of soul-purifying fasting during the month of Ramadan.

In Navratri, the seeker finds the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is called ratri because it brings rest and rejuvenation.

It is interesting that the Quran also speaks of a Night – the night in which the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), thus bringing spiritual light to mankind.

While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies speech and brings rest to the mind, and meditation takes one deep into one’s being.

It is known that Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation during a period of fasting and meditation in the cave of Hira. (This is commemorated in the last part of Ramadan, in the night mentioned before, called Lailat al-Qadr). It is therefore important that one resorts to these methods of seeking communication with Almighty God.

http://newageislam.com/a-spiritual-note-from-the-quran--fasting--in-navratri/islam-and-pluralism/d/870

Australians kept Taleban suspects in dog pen, Islam and Human Rights, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Human Rights

Australians kept Taleban suspects in dog pen

Kristen Gelineau I AP

3 September 2008 (03 Ramadan 1429)

Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon confirmed yesterday that four suspected insurgents who were arrested by Special Forces soldiers on April 29 were held for 24 hours in a compound occasionally used to house dogs.

The soldiers’ actions prompted strong criticism from the head of Australia’s main Islamic group, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.

“It is quite appalling that the Australian soldiers are in any way caught up in the inhumane treatment of human beings — irrespective of who they are,” said federation president Ikebal Patel. “I think it’s quite despicable that something like that could happen and that the Australians are party to it.”

The revelation follows complaints by an Afghan soldier about mistreatment of the detainees, who were held in southern Uruzgan province following a battle with Taleban fighters. An Australian Defence Force inquiry last week found that medical evidence and witness statements did not support allegations of abuse.

http://newageislam.com/australians-kept-taleban-suspects-in-dog-pen/islam-and-human-rights/d/699

‘Animated’ depiction of Prophet’s life, Islamic Culture, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Culture

‘Animated’ depiction of Prophet’s life

Arab News

The film is set in 610 A.D, in Makkah where the Prophet (pbuh) was born into the Quraish tribe, which controlled and ruled the city. The Prophet (pbuh) is not personified; light is used to depict him instead — a feature perhaps borrowed from Mustafa Akkad’s 1977 film “The Message.” The story shows how his uncle Abu Talib, who — even though dying as a non-Muslim — remained one of Islam’s greatest supporters and cared for the Prophet (pbuh), being an orphan.

The film’s narration starts before the divine revelation and depicts the turning point of Islam when the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet (pbuh) asking him to “read,” which was the first word in the Holy Qur’an. He then entrusted him the task of spreading the word of God and honoring the one God.

http://newageislam.com/%E2%80%98animated%E2%80%99-depiction-of-prophet%E2%80%99s-life/islamic-culture/d/718

''Quran School'': The Intercultural Theatre Project

Islamic Culture

''Quran School'': The Intercultural Theatre Project

by Susanne Kappe

This impression is communicated by more than just the Sunni community's Christmas greeting poster stuck on a column of the Fatih Mosque, or by the imam who relates the story of the revelation of the Koran in the local Mannheimer dialect and promises to reward his patient listeners with gummi bears. The children shouting outside in the playground as we sit in the mosque's impressive prayer room and the hip-hop music playing in the street also convey this sense of a life both vivid and perfectly normal.

http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-culture/susanne-kappe/--quran-school----the-intercultural-theatre-project/d/7322